Jupboy
New Member
I want to keep the 14 inch wheels on my 67 Polara but can’t find narrow WW tires bigger than 215/75. I’d like 225 or even 235. But I don’t want to go wide white wall $250 Cokers.
Tire choices
- Thread starter Jupboy
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bigmoparjeff
Senior Member
Sadly, there's only two choices: Coker American Classic and Diamond Back Auburn Premium. Both are $$$.
The Diamond Back is a very new design that's supposed to look like the old Michelin radials that were available in the early to mid 1970's, though I think they missed the mark a bit and made them look more like a European market tire. The American Classic is a pretty crappy tire from what I understand, It's a very old design with minimal rubber in the tread and must be run at 35psi to carry the rated load, which makes me think it's a weak design too.
Auburn Premium - 15 Inch White Wall Tires - Custom Classic Car Tires
They don't specifically list a narrow white for the HR78-14, but you can usually custom order any whitewall size you want from them. They'll be in the $200-$250 range per tire.
Jeff
The Diamond Back is a very new design that's supposed to look like the old Michelin radials that were available in the early to mid 1970's, though I think they missed the mark a bit and made them look more like a European market tire. The American Classic is a pretty crappy tire from what I understand, It's a very old design with minimal rubber in the tread and must be run at 35psi to carry the rated load, which makes me think it's a weak design too.
Auburn Premium - 15 Inch White Wall Tires - Custom Classic Car Tires
They don't specifically list a narrow white for the HR78-14, but you can usually custom order any whitewall size you want from them. They'll be in the $200-$250 range per tire.
Jeff
Jupboy
New Member
That’s what I thought. My dad, who had the car before me, put 205/75’s on it and they sure look skimpy! Are they adequate for light loads? I’ve been looking at 215 Hankook’s as a replacement. I really want to keep the original hub caps - will they interchange/fit on factory 15 inch rims?
bigmoparjeff
Senior Member
Most people are using the 215/75-R14 Hankooks on C bodies with 14 inch rims.
Modern tires are way stronger than tires were when these cars were new and just about any size you can put on your rims will easily handle the weight of the car.
Your Polara would have had fairly small tires from the factory unless someone optioned it up with a larger tire, but that was pretty rare. The 215-14's would be fine.
Assuming you have full wheel covers and not dog dishes, they won't fit on a 15" rim. I've been working on a way to adapt the 14" wheel covers to a 15" rim, but I'm not there yet.
Jeff
Modern tires are way stronger than tires were when these cars were new and just about any size you can put on your rims will easily handle the weight of the car.
Your Polara would have had fairly small tires from the factory unless someone optioned it up with a larger tire, but that was pretty rare. The 215-14's would be fine.
Assuming you have full wheel covers and not dog dishes, they won't fit on a 15" rim. I've been working on a way to adapt the 14" wheel covers to a 15" rim, but I'm not there yet.
Jeff
Jupboy
New Member
The Hankooks would be my recommendation too. They can take the weight, and are very comfortable too. Good handling in the dry, rain is not great but then again I doubt any of the others would handle better — quite the opposite.
rapidtrans
Senior Member
Converting Your (Chrysler) Imperial's 15 inch Rims to 14 inch Wheel Rims
Stockton wheel might be the only guys left that do this now.
The guy that did mine has stopped making these but this is what the finished wheel looked like.
The 15” rim is brand new rolled steel, then he welds in a center section to the offset I chose and tack welds in a 1/2” rolled piece to accept the wheel cover. 15” w.w. radials are much easier, and cheaper, to find at most tire stores.
Stockton wheel might be the only guys left that do this now.
The guy that did mine has stopped making these but this is what the finished wheel looked like.
The 15” rim is brand new rolled steel, then he welds in a center section to the offset I chose and tack welds in a 1/2” rolled piece to accept the wheel cover. 15” w.w. radials are much easier, and cheaper, to find at most tire stores.
There are now TWO Hankook whitewalls in P215/75R-14. One is the "modern" Kinergy ST line. The other one is the Optimo H72_, with the skinny tread widths the cars came with in the '60s.
The P215/75R-14 would be very close to the 8.25x14 size or the later G78x14 size. The Magnum 500s were 14x5.5, but Ford had the 15x7s on Mustangs and such, plus some 14x6s.
In more current times, we've gotten too used to seeing 8" wide tread widths on newer vehicles, so what really came on the mid-60s and such vehicles, which looked good back then, looks tiny to us now. Especially that the typical rim width was 5.5-6.0 inches and the tire tread widths were usually in that range, too.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
The P215/75R-14 would be very close to the 8.25x14 size or the later G78x14 size. The Magnum 500s were 14x5.5, but Ford had the 15x7s on Mustangs and such, plus some 14x6s.
In more current times, we've gotten too used to seeing 8" wide tread widths on newer vehicles, so what really came on the mid-60s and such vehicles, which looked good back then, looks tiny to us now. Especially that the typical rim width was 5.5-6.0 inches and the tire tread widths were usually in that range, too.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
Jupboy
New Member
Jupboy
New Member
Jupboy
New Member
Bought new by my grandfather, then to my dad in early 90’s, to me in 2018. 383 4-barrel, A/C, & PS. Just upgraded to PB, sooo much better.
rapidtrans
Senior Member
I replaced my too skinny 215/75x14 tires on 5.5” wide wheels with 225/70x15 tires on 7” wide rims. The tires now fill the wheel openings better but more important, to me anyway, is the better handling the bigger tires provides.
bluefury361
Old Man with a Hat
Hankook tires are fine except for the non correct appearance of the sidewalls. (Plus there Asian made), something I try to avoid.
I used a set of 15 X 7 steel wheels from a 80's Diplomat. They were designed for use with radial tires and the reduced flex means less likely hood of throwing a wheel cover.
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bluefury361
Old Man with a Hat
I checked my speedo against the mile markers for 10 miles on a couple of recent road trips and it is close to 1% error with the 235 78 15's.
Ride quality is excellent.
Ride quality is excellent.
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